A Virginia Tech study shows a dramatic slowdown in agricultural productivity that threatens the world’s ability to feed a growing global population and manage environmental challenges. That’s according to the 2024 Global Agricultural Productivity (GAP) Report.
The report says that while research, development, and high-tech farming tools are being developed at a steady pace, a substantial “valley of death” separates the development of new innovations from the people who need to adopt them. Agricultural total factor productivity growth is critical for ensuring that agriculture can meet the growing global demand for products by 2050.
“Global agricultural productivity growth has slowed from 1.9 percent annually during 2001-2010 to 0.7 percent annually during 2013-2022,” says Tom Thompson, the report’s executive editor. “This dramatic slowdown will prevent us from reaching our agricultural production and sustainability goals by 2050, with potentially dire impacts on food and nutrition security unless we reverse this trend.”